There is much in life that we usually take for granted, not realizing how wonderful it is til we lose it, be it our health, our jobs, our loved ones.

One that hit me today was the incredible blessing of being young, strong and independent.

As I sat in my aunt’s nursing home, surrounded by frail doddery old women, I suddenly realized with a jolt the unbelievable good fortune I have with this young capable body of mine and how impermanent this good fortune tends to be.

I smiled kindly at the chatty white-haired lady sitting opposite, understanding little of what she said (given she had no teeth) aside from how much she would absolutely love to go for a simple stroll outside.

“Go om ou’ fo’ a walk!  I’g go omlee my legsh a’ bwoken.  Ah shhhur go om ou’ fo’ a nisshh walk!”

Her bruised bandaged legs looked like thin match-sticks and her utter lack of teeth suddenly made me wish I didn’t eat quite so much sugar.  Meanwhile a raucous cough from the other side of the room reminded me that there was indeed a person inside the body sitting slumped and vacantly in the armchair by the door.

I glanced across as she slowly raised an arm over her mouth and then just as slowly lowered it, her somewhat glazed eyes staring at the floor the whole time.

The lights were on – barely – but no one was home, the walls were cracked and the front-door off it’s hinges…

Meanwhile I continued my conversation with the chatty broken-legged lady, who turned out to be deaf and continued to demand that we ‘go out for a walk’ while my aunt sat utterly still in the chair next to me, dozing on and off.

The few interactions I managed with her all ended the same, with her mumbling a few incomprehensible words only to trail off into silence, as though being alive was effort enough, never mind talking.

“You don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone.”

We young people have no idea of what’s in store for us as we age, have no idea of what we have at our finger-tips right now with these young able bodies of ours, and probably no idea of just how short and precious these years are for us to make use of it all before we begin to rust and fall into disrepair.

Life truly is a cycle, isn’t it?  We are born helpless, we grow up and learn to be independent only to eventually end up right back where we started, vulnerable, helpless and entirely dependent on others for even the simplest of things like showering or eating food.

Right now I’m in the middle phase of it all and as such, it seems quite clear what I need to do with this phase of life: enjoy it as much as physically possible (and eat a bit less chocolate while I’m at it).  That way I can make the most out of these good years… and I might still have some teeth when I’m eighty.

Ciao darlings!

Lizzie xxxx